I kept seeing this sock bun curls tutorial floating around Pinterest and decided to try it since I had such good success with the no heat curls.
I like this one too because it doesn’t use any heat but it took me a few tries to get the technique down. I was looking for more tips and kept seeing blogs where people linked to the tutorial but then would say “oh but I used a curling iron in these pictures.” That is annoying. So I am sharing my tips with y’all. The pictures above have no extra styling, I just woke up, took down the bun and finger-combed with a little frizz-control serum.
Here are my tips for perfect sock bun curls:
1) Put a little hair product in your hair before you roll it up. I used a little bit of light-hold spray gel over my damp hair and it definitely made the curls last longer.
2) Use a child sized sock for a tighter fit. Mine kept falling out so I picked up some little girl socks in the dollar spot at Target and they worked much better.
3) Use two socks! Cut two socks like she shows in the video. After you’ve rolled your hair into the sock bun, pull the other sock over the entire bun. This will keep all of your hair in place and prevent it from falling out and frizzing while you sleep.
4) Don’t worry about covering the entire sock. Mine looked the best when only about half to three-quarters of the sock was covered with hair.
5) Practice! It will take a few times to sort of figure out the rhythm of rolling your hair into the sock. Go slowly and make sure your ends are tucked in nicely or they will look weirdly crimped. If you have layers, you’ll have to pull them into the bun as you go.
This is definitely now on my go-to list of quick and easy hair styles. The only downfall is that after you roll your hair up for the night, you kind of look like a Teletubby.
About Kayla Aimee
So pretty! I tried this but I think my hair is too short with too many (even shorter) layers.
Your hair is gorgeous! I wish my hair were long enough to try this!
definitely trying this tonight!! yours look much better than the videos, how did you get the top to curl that much? my hairs too short to just curl at the bottom. it looks horrible! lol
I don’t know, it just came out of the bun like that! I was really careful to tuck the shorter layers in as I went so maybe that helped!
I don’t see the video. Do you have a link to it? Thanks!
I have the straightest hair EVER! it never wants to curl…I wonder if it would work on my boring straight hair…because as a new-ish mom…I don’t have time for curling irons.
I had never seen this before, but I tried it last night. Holy man! Is my hair ever curly today! I was thinking of chopping my long hair off, but maybe I’ll keep it a little while longer and play around with styles courtesy of you tube. Thanks for posting this!
Thank you for all the tips!! I have my hair up still (as I’m working around the house this morning), but I’m excited to see how it looks before the birthday party this afternoon!! Your tips were very helpful, so here’s to hoping my hair looks like yours!
Hey! I tried this putting my hair in a ponytail first but I woke up with a horrible crease. When I try it without the holder, it doesn’t stay tight enough. Did you have this problem?
I have this same problem too. The first time I did it, all of my hair was damp, and I wrapped the ponytail holder too tight. The crease was horrible. However, I tried it again with my hair dry, looser ponytail holder, and used a spray bottle to get my pony wet, the crease wasn’t as bad. Once I got my hair the way I wanted it, it wasn’t very noticeable at all.
I had this same problem. My hair creases if I have it in a ponytail for even 5 minutes, but I saw a post that recommended cutting a strip off the end of the sock and using it as the band. It is much less tight and this solved my problem. Hope it helps!!
sometimes if you use a scrunchie style pony holder the crease isn’t quite as noticeable.
this looks so amazing! too bad my hair is crazy short. plus i didn’t want to waste a pair of brand new socks! so i’m trying this with a sock, but i didn’t cut it. and i rolled my hair up in it via the inside… x my fingers!
I’m a big fan of this style of curling. I’m still getting the hang of it but already like it tons better than using a curling iron or rollers!
Great tips! I did a bit of a tutorial on my blog a while ago, but I like the 2 sock idea, and I should have put product in mine before…
I have tried this the original way-one sock- and while my hair doesn’t curl, it has amazing volume and fullness. But I have very thick, very straight, very stubborn hair. Even when I had a light perm it would go straight! Maybe the second sock will help as it did tend to fall out/slide down over night. What I would do for curls like yours!
My hair tends to hold curl really well since it’s the consistency of shredded wheat :/ Silver linings!
So, of all the nights to try this, I tucked my hair in the first sock, put a second sock over it and went to sleep with happy thoughts of beautiful curls. I was supposed to watch my friend’s little boy the next morning. Of course, the alarm didn’t go off and I wake up to her husband banging on the front door. Threw on my clothes, threw open the door… and remembered the socks. His face was priceless. My hair looked good though.
lol! that is awesome!
thank you for sharing – had a good chuckle at the visual!
I’m definitely trying this tonight! I wonder…I know you said yours held the curl at the top, but my curls tend to fell to the bottom. Do you think 2 sock buns, one with the top layer of hair and one with the rest of your hair, would keep the curl at the top as well? I might experiment with this =)
yes.. i did mine first try last night, but i did princess leigha style. 2 buns o9n either side. my hair is crazy long so one sock didnt work, got to thick, but 2 was great!
So pretty. Did you have any problems with your hair creasing where your ponytail holder was? That was my problem. Pretty curls but a huge crease in my hair from where the ponytail holder was. Any suggestions on how to prevent this?
I tried this the other night and have a couple more hints. The first time I tried this, my hair was still damp in the morning (therefore curl-less) but I had a HUGE crease from the hair elastic. Not. Cute. However, round two- I started with my hair completely dry. I put my hair in a ponytail like in the video, but then also tied a string around it, knotted pseudo loosely and then pulled the actual hair elastic off leaving just the string holding my hair up (Full disclosure- it was actually dental floss- I didn’t have string laying around the house- mmmm, minty fresh….). I spritzed my pony tail with a small amount of spray gell and then rolled into the sock bun like in the video. When the bun was getting close to my roots, I VERY CAREFULLY snipped the string (dental floss) off, so that my hair was only being held up by the sock. I put in a few bobby pins around it (though the 2nd sock trick would work too) to make sure it stayed all night. The next morning- fantastic, heat free curls. L.O.V.E.
I tried this last night and woke up with beautiful, voluminous curls! They didn’t hold for very long though, but it was a pretty windy day also. I would recommend this for windy weather basically! But I was surprised at how well this works. I look down at the socks and think “how in the WORLD did these curl my hair?” haha
This is how I use to do both of my daughter’s hair when they were younger. I always had mismatched socks that I would keep in a bucket for when I would do their hair. It was easier for them to sleep on that the pink sponge rollers and I didn’t have to worry about burning them.
My oldest daughter has gorgeous straight hair (hard to curl and keep a curl) and using this method – her hair would stay curly pretty much all day. My youngest has curly hair and this would make the curls not as tight.
Yay, more pretty hair ideas! Can’t wait to try it. Must sacrifice a sock.
I love the headband no heat curls–I actually started a sensation at work. We have to wear our hair *completely* up. Any style I tried always left me with strange creases and kinks when I took my hair down (no going straight out after work). Now, I shower, put my completely soaking hair into the headband, and go to work. That night, I wrap a scarf around my head to protect the semi-dry hair while I sleep. The next morning, I have dry hair and curls! Two hairstyles for five minutes of effort!! Fabulous! And my stylist is thrilled that I’m not drying my hair so much with the dryer–it’s healthier and so soft. Thanks!
Thank you for the tips! I watched the video and needed more info. This is great, thanks!
Hi! Saw a pin to this tutorial through pinterest. Was it hard to curl your hair since you had layers? Or it was easier to do so when you used smaller socks? I tried to do this once and the sock just kept sliding off and my layers were just everywhere (having asian hair sucks sometimes). All the tutorials I’ve seen, the girls didn’t have layers so I was wondering if you had advice on how to use the sock bun for layered hair girls
I just went reallly slowly and tucked the layers in as I went. I also put some spray gel in my hands and smoothed it over the ponytail so that my layers mostly sort of stayed together. But yes, definitely rolling the layers into it as you go, the shorter pieces that fall out of the pony, was what did the trick for me. It just took longer! HTH!
If your layers are shorter on top try rolling the top half of your hair in one sock and the bottom half in another!
the first time i tried this with “damp” hair and my hair was still wet in the morning~ the next time i blow-dried my hair completely then sprayed with curling gel before rolling and it was perfect. layers get really hard though. and the ends were tighter ringlets than the middle section.
I absolutely LOVE THIS~!!! No heat is awesome, so healthy for your hair! What kind of spray gel did you use?
I have tried and tried and it just isn’t really working for me. I am having a ton of trouble getting my hair to roll up due to my layers- the bun ends up being huge and really loose. Will you do a video too?
Thank you so much for posting this! I tried the sock bun one night and had not so stellar results. I really appreciate the picture of you with it in so I have a better idea of how it’s supposed to look!
My hair never holds curl so I’m excited to try this tonight. Thanks for posting!
I have tried twice and everytime my hair comes out super frizzy! And it just looks horrible the bun is tight though but it’s really hard to get the layers all in. What kind of spray gel did you use?
Haven’t quite got the hang of it yet but I’m going to keep practicing and with your tips it should turn out better. Thanks.
Girlfriends Are Like Shoes
it looks so easy…gonna try it tonight… !!!! ^_^
youve got a nice blog!
Okay…super cute! But…I watched the video and have no idea how to “roll up” my hair. Can someone explain this to me? I know, should be simple, but I’m totally lost! lol (Will you ping my website or email to let me know you responded so I know to look back please?)
Your hair looks gorgeous!
this is super cool! trying it now…can’t wait till tomorrow morning. Hope it works because the ends are really hard to tuck in. Am a mum to a baby girl so really hope this quick trick works like yours…fingers crossed!
I discovered this trick quite by accident. I used this cool gadget (a rubbery-textured thing with a split in the middle and the ends clip together) to make a bobby pin-less bun for my daughter for ice skating. After she had her hair up for an extended time, when we took the bun out she had goreous curls! I want to try the sock trick for my own hair now that it’s getting long again!
Love this idea, but I just cant figure out how to roll my hair up with the sock, help please
Thanks for these extra tips. I tried the sock bun thing and it was a total bust. A little bit of wave at the ends of my hair. But I kept thinking maybe I needed a smaller sock because I used one of my hubbies and it was kind of thick. Definitely going to try again with theses suggestions!
I have very thick layered hair and curls are always weighed down… Except when I use sock bun. Due to my thick layered hair, i make 3 mini buns! One on each side of my head, somewhat close to my part, and one in the back, kind of in the middle, I dampen my hair with a spray bottle, along with a very minimal amount of nofrizz gel (minimal reduces the weight), using a small child’s sock, roll away and like posted, cover with another small sock. No kinks for me! Much easier with my layers and tighter curls so as I go throughout the day, the curls loosen some but my hair is curly ALL day!
I like this idea! Thanks for sharing.
Your hair is beautiful!! How long will it stay?
Teletubby! ha! This sounds fabulous though! I will so be trying this out. Thanks!
If the answer to finally getting the perfect curls I’ve always wanted is honestly a sock…well, let’s give it a try!
I tried this last night with damp freshly washed hair and it did not turn out at all… all I got was big waves… any advice on trying it again?
Mine turned out similar to yours when I recently tried this. Although, I had a weird crease at the top of my head from where the pony was. Any suggestions?
Check the comments above- some other posters recommended using a string? I haven’t tried that though
HOW DO YOU CUT THE SOCKS?!
how do you cut the socks?
I love you for this!
I can’t wait to try this!
Thank you Kayla Aimee! I can’t wait to try this!
I with someone with naturally curly hair like mine would show how to do this. I can’t just comb my hair, throw in some product, wrap it in a sock bun and viola, perfect curls. Curly hair acts WAY differently than straightish hair i.e. combing=death. I tried it after I got out of the shower but my hair didn’t dry by the morning and it was a mess.
Thank you! I always fix my hair with a sock bun (of course it’s a tight bun) and everytime I let down my hair for the night I always say “man I wish I could get curls all over like this” now I can try this out! YAY! I’m super excited and can’t wait to try. =) thank you thank you
I have naturally wavy hair and when I tried the sock bun my hair was a mess! I got TONS of curls ~ Little Orphan Annie curls. My hair is halfway down my back wavy and with sock bun curls it was just below my shoulders. I agree with Sara, I wish there was a technique for girls with curls!
i have masses of curly hair but the curls never sit properly so i usually blow dry it then use a curling iron. i tried this and it looked amazing. i added some Frizz Ease to my hair before blow drying it gently. then once in a ponytail i sprayed it damp with some water and a little gel spray so it would hold. i followed the rest of the video and the curls came out beautifully (: i hope this helps just a wee bit! x
Thank you for tips! I was wondering what you mean for step 4. I am getting ready to try this tonight!! Very excited about the morning! I have very thick, long, straight hair. Also, what kind of kids socks did you use? Thanks for you great insight!
So, I tried it last night and it worked pretty good. I have some fine tuning to do. I used an old wore out pony tail holder and cut it out so it wouldn’t have the crinckle, and I used the blow dyer to dry it almost all the way. The only thing is that my hair is soooo thick that it was still a bit damp this morning in a spot or two. The rest of the do looked good. I am going to try the 2 bun system next time, I think I will end up with better results that way. Also, going to use a bit more product before I bun it up too. Thanks for all the tips everyone! I thought I was doomed to be a curl free gal.
Thanks for the tips! I was getting tired of seeing the tutorials with extra curls added in. I don’t want to use a curling iron… that’s the point. LOL.
Hmm. When I’ve tried this I’ve gotten some curl out of it, even though my hair is self-straightening. My hair is super thick though, and I never can get it to dry all the way, even if I have it in a bun overnight. I’m wondering if there’s something more breatheable than a sock I could use…
It’s not the sock that keeps it from drying, it’s your actual hair being bundled on top of itself. For example, if you have your hair in a messy bun or in a tight braid while it’s wet and take it down at the end of the day, it’s still going to be damp. They mentioned it in an above comment that if you start with your hair dry and use a spray gel then you’ll still get the effect, and also it will have product to help hold the curls all day.
I just went to the dollar store a while ago to get socks and I thought a child size sock would probably work better for my straight, thin hair. Then I got on here and read your advice on getting a smaller sock. I knew I was onto something there lol.
Thank you so much for the tip on using another sock over the bun. I was having problems with it staying in place throughout the night.
I would really like to try this, but I have to wash my hair EVERY morning. If I don’t, then by mid afternoon, if not in the morning, my hair is so greasy and looks terrible. Does anyone have any tips for this? I’ve tried powders and the waterless shampoo, but those just make my hair look powdery and stiff.
Have you tried a clarifying shampoo? I just started using Garnier Frutis Pure Clean. It makes it feel like it gets more of the remnants out of my hair from the day. Also put conditioner ONLY on the tips of your hair not on the top of your head. If you HAVE to put just a tiny amount, enough to be able to comb through.
Another idea if you can find them… remember those papers that they sold where you could blot your face and it takes the oil off? I don’t remember the name but you could run those across your hair to try and soak up some oil.
OMG i looove this look!!!!!! it looks soooo pretty on your hair!!!!! i have my bun in now and since i have so much hair i had to use 2 socks, just like you said. right now it is 9:15, and i have to wake up at 6 for school. i don’t know if that gives me enough time. also, i didn’t dampen my hair that much, i just sprayed it a little with hairspray. i will let you know how it turned out!!!
okay, so i have superrr thick, layered, wavy hair and i tried this with no product while it was stull somewhat damp and it was a mess. i had TONS of volume and frizz…and even curls on my top layer. i want to try two socks and see if that would work. thanks so much for this!
I can’t wait to try this out! My hair holds curl really well (used to be naturally curly but more frizzy than curly) but since I’ve had kids and straightened my hair every day for the past, oh, 10 years or more, my curls have since disappeared to a frizzy, yucky mess. When I was a kid my mom used to put ‘rags’ in my hair where she’d wrap small sections of hair around little rags (pieces of old towels or t-shirts) and then tie them in a knot. I’d sleep on it (my hair will dry overnight) and then I’d have great hair for picture day. I’m sure I stopped doing that because perms in the 80s were cool (yikes!) but now I’d like to try it again! And I’m thinking the sock bun will provide larger, more voluminous curls rather than the tight ones my mom used to give me. Thanks for the tips!
Did this last night! It did work with a little frizz that I did have to smooth over with a curling iron…I know bad for the hair, but it worked! I only had to add about 3 curls, no biggie! I think using a CHILD’s sock is key! I especially love the curls in the hard to reach back of my head! : ) Thank you for the tips!
I have tried the sock bun several times. But the thing I would like to know is how do you keep from getting the pony tail crease. Each time I have tried this I take down the bunand take out the pony tail and have that bad crease in my hair. I end up having to pull have my hair back because of the crease. How can I prevent that?
Also I think my hair might be to frizzy and thick for this. So wonder if its best to start out with straight hair instead of naturally dried hair thats thick and frizzy.
LOL . omg i didnt think of putting another sock over.
good idea thanks 
OMG! We have 7 kids in our home….3 girls plus my long hair! I FINALLY KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH ALL THE ODD SOCKS! Very excited to use this on all four of us. It will make our next concert day soooooo much easier.